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When I first got wind of a tie-in novel, Bioshock: Rapture, for the awesome videogame Bioshock (2007) I was eager to get my hands on it. Author John Shirley, who is well-known in the sci-fi world, delivers the prequel to the crazy-ass, head-scratching, and often funny videogame. I just didn’t know it came out back in 2012. Oh well, it’s never too late to read something you never knew existed. Personally, I am glad this wasn’t just a novel version of the game itself though I would have read it anyway. But, to see his interpretation of how the underwater city of Rapture got to be so fucked up…made sense and it helped me better understand the game and want to play it again. If you are a gamer then you are probably well aware there are so many questions often left unanswered in the gaming world.

The story begins at the conception of Rapture…in the mind of Andrew Ryan who rose from poverty with the utopian idea of an underwater city where people were “free” to do as they wish without government restrictions or sanctions. Ryan feared the firebombs of World War II were surely to explode over the rest of the world in just a matter of time. His solution was to gather the best of the best and hide away in an underwater paradise as the world destroys itself. Yeah, how could anything possibly go wrong? Read the rest of this entry →

I’ve sort of developed a love/hate relationship with Silent Hill: Downpour, the eighth game of the survival horror series. The main thing I like about this game compared to my other favorite horror survival game, Resident Evil, is that the developers of Silent Hill remembered to include challenging, though sometime confusing, puzzles. The hate part of this game is the frustrating controls and (mostly) whacked out story line. No matter how hard I try to pay attention to any Silent Hill story, it ends up being a head-scratcher. Though, this time the storyline is a bit simpler, it’s hard to follow at times because of how it’s told. I have no problem with lengthy cut scenes, but having to read all the notes you find can be time-consuming. However, reading will enhance the overall story experience if notes and journal entries something you don’t mind sifting through.

Rage is a first-person shooter set in a futuristic world of mutants and bandits in a fight for survival action game. 106 years after being put in stasis you awaken in an Ark, a vessel intended to preserve humankind. You were one of several hundred selected to continue on after the asteroid impact with Earth nearly destroyed it in 2029. The only problem is that I am the only survivor of the Ark I was sleeping in. As I awaken and make my way to see the world in front of me, I realize things haven’t been going so well. Mutants and bandits make life hard for the pockets of humans that have continued to survive. And for this group called The Authority? Who knows what they are up to…that is until I expose their dastardly plans.

Once again, the city of Steelport is under fire; caught in the crossfire from rival gangs. Saints Row: The Third (or Saints Row 3) takes the fight to the streets in this open-world action/adventure game. In this third installment, the Saints attempt to regain control of Steelport from the gangs that comprise The Syndicate. It’s a complex story of organized crime, but a simple plot…regain control.